


Derailed

by Cleopatra (empressofthelight)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-22
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 13:03:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7269460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofthelight/pseuds/Cleopatra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yuugi agrees to stay in the background while Yami says goodbye to Kaiba the night before the ceremonial duel. At first he thinks he's there as moral support to make sure they talk about the elephant in the room (their love for each other) but a desperate call of his name in the darkness outside of his soul room afterward forces him to face his own affections. Now he's far more involved than he originally planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Derailed

**Author's Note:**

> Mild sexual content with underage boys but it does not get graphic at all. Very figurative. So I hope you enjoy. 
> 
> Thank you Silace for being my Alpha reader and Jackvbriefs for the awesome support and excellent suggestions. Love you both!

Yuugi knew why he was there, but that didn’t make it any easier. Watching Yami and Kaiba try to talk out anything was like watching a train derail. Scrapping and destroying all in it’s path, unable to stop it's own momentum. An object in motion tended to stay in motion. Simple laws of physics. So Yuugi stood there, a shadow in the room, acting as a desperately needed outside force. He was going to make sure that this ended. This derailed train would stop just before flying off the end of the cliff, even if he had to play god to do that. No one in this world or any other deserved happiness, resolution, and closure like they did. Yuugi wanted them to at least have that.

The starry night sky just outside of the porthole reminded Yuugi of how little time they had. He sighed, tapping his heel against wall of Kaiba’s stateroom. When was Yami going to get to the point? Kaiba had the same question. “I already offered to help you. You refused. So why the hell are you still here?”

Yami didn’t say anything and Yuugi could feel how nervous he was. “ _Don’t worry, Yami. He’ll understand.”_

“I…”

Kaiba sat on the edge of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at Yami. It was late and Kaiba had already been in bed. He wore silken pajamas and his hair was fluffier on one side. The fact that Kaiba let him in should have told Yami something, but here he stood, speechless. Yuugi’s shoulders slumped. They couldn’t possibly be this thick headed.

“I...” Kaiba mocked, furrowing his brow.

Yuugi beamed, nodding vigorously to Yami when he glanced over to him for reassurance. “ _Go on.”_

“I came here... to say goodbye.”

Kaiba raised an eyebrow; his frown deepening. For a moment Yuugi thought that Kaiba looked offended. That didn’t stop Yami from holding his head high and staring Kaiba directly in the eye, though. Watching them made Yuugi’s heart beat faster, knowing how insecure and vulnerable Yami felt. Yuugi knew firsthand how it felt to be under Kaiba’s scrutinizing gaze. Exhilarating and horrifying; treasured and worthless. Naked in front of a crowd of thousands; bathed in fire and light.

“Goodbye?”

“If the duel goes well tomorrow, I’ll be leaving.” Yami explained. “I... I want you to know... I consider you a friend, whether you consider me one or not…”

Kaiba stayed quiet much to Yuugi’s surprise. The prospect of ‘friendship’ always left a sour taste in Kaiba’s mouth, it was strange that he didn’t fight with Yami about it. Yuugi smiled to himself. To think Yami was worried. The bite in Kaiba’s voice was gone when he did finally speak. “Is that all you wanted to tell me, Yuugi? This could have waited until tomorrow.”

Yuugi groaned. _“If you don’t tell him right now, I’m taking over and I’ll tell him.”_

Joey was much better at this ‘wing man’ thing to be fair... but then again, Joey hated Kaiba’s guts. Maybe he wasn’t the best one for this situation. Not that Yuugi was any less biased. Yami wasn’t the only one planning on talking to Kaiba. He also wasn’t the only one that felt this way for Kaiba. Part of him wanted Yami to succeed in this so that maybe one day, he’d be able to as well.

Kaiba stood up from the bed and took two steps forward, reaching out for Yami. Yuugi’s eyes widened, feeling the same racing heart and the same bitter sweet taste of anticipation as the spirit. Then Yami whispered, “I’m not Yuugi,” and Kaiba stopped.

For a moment, Kaiba looked confused. His lips thinned into a thoughtful line and his eyes narrowed. Yuugi held his breath as Kaiba lowered his hand. “So you're here to show me a difference?”

“You can’t see one? Our friends can. Why can’t you?”

“They want to see you separated.” Kaiba quickly answered, as if it were common sense. “If I separate you, like they have, I’ll miss something.”

Yuugi blinked in surprise at such a strange thing to say. His friends have missed parts of them for acknowledging them as separate people? That just didn’t make sense. It was uncharacteristic for Kaiba, someone who has to make sense out of everything, to chose such an odd way of thinking. Kicking off of the wall, Yuugi took a few steps closer. He needed to see Kaiba’s eyes.

“Miss something?” Yami frowned, just as confused as Yuugi.

“Tea thinks that you are her savior. Is that really you, is it Yuugi, or is it both of you?”

Yami’s frown twisted with confusion as he himself tried to separate them. Yuugi couldn’t even answer that, not really. Both of them wanted her safe, she was both of their friends...but Yami was the actual one that did it. She always attributed her savior to Yami. Yuugi agreed, but was it really him?

Accepting the silence as some sort of response, Kaiba pressed further. “Is it you that takes the risks or is that Yuugi?”

“Me.” Yami answered immediately, the confusion vanishing from his face to be replaced by iron resolve. “I’m the one who makes the foolish mistakes.”

“ _That’s not true, Yami…”_

Kaiba’s smirk laced with pride. “Is that why you're here first?”

“First?” Yami whispered, fighting the urge to look towards Yuugi.

Kaiba shook his head. His smile softened as he pulled Yami into a kiss. As Yuugi watched on, he smiled. The train stopped, just short of the cliff it seemed. He wasn’t needed any more.

\--------

Lying on the bed in his soul room, Yuugi stared up at the ceiling thinking over what Kaiba had said. Was he really separate from Yami anymore? Would it hurt to have half of himself gone tomorrow? And what did Kaiba mean about Yami being first? First to what? Did Kaiba know they both liked him? It certainly seemed that way. The comment Kaiba made about his friends bothered him the more he thought about it. Joey, Tea and the others were his family. He didn’t like that Kaiba felt they didn’t really know Yuugi, but whose fault would that really be? Yami had been with him through most of their friendships. Maybe Kaiba had a point.

The room was too quiet, and he hated not being able to feel Yami just across the hall of darkness between their rooms. This was how it was going to be. This is what he wanted it to be like. He wanted Yami to be happy. That’s why he lay here while Yami uses his body to do whatever he needed to before tomorrow. The more he thought about what ‘whatever’ entailed, the redder his cheeks tinged and the harder it was to breathe. He closed his eyes imagining what Kaiba’s lips tasted like and what Yami’s chest felt like to be pressed against his.  Just as he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of what he could never have, Yami’s desperate calling of his name woke him with a start.

“Yami?!” Yuugi sat up in his bed, ears tuned for that cry again but the room was silent.

Had he dreamed it? Not willing to risk Yami’s distress, Yuugi wandered outside of the soul room into the darkness between them. He reached out for Yami’s door but didn’t get a chance to knock on it. Violently, Yami pulled him back into his body. Now he understood what it felt like to be a derailed train.

The storm of emotions, sounds, smells, and sensations flooded into him like a surge of power through a frayed wire. He reached out to grab ahold of anything to ground him; to make the sensations scatter instead of pool inside him. Kaiba’s tense and bare shoulders were anything but a ground and the pool twisted into a coil, winding tighter and scorching him from the inside out. Kaiba’s gasps and groans into his shoulder and neck did nothing to cool his nerves. He needed release and the howls and moans he made in an attempt to take the edge off proved to be in vain.  Kaiba moved to kiss him, devouring the desperate sounds he made. He tasted better than Yuugi had ever dreamed. When the coil of pleasure finally wound itself so tight it snapped, Yuugi keened. His back arching off of the bed, pushing him closer to the other. Kaiba wrapped his arm under Yuugi’s back and held him perfectly still as he moaned Yuugi’s name near his ear. Yuugi gasped for air, trying to cool the fire in his lungs and clear the haze from his mind.  

When he finally opened his eyes he saw Yami’s semi-transparent face resting his chin on Kaiba’s shoulder and staring down at him. “ _Enjoy yourself, partner?”_

Yuugi responded with a pouting huff that made Yami chuckle. His laughter rose from low in his chest. When Kaiba sighed, Yuugi turned his attention to him. That huff probably didn’t sound good out of context. “Kaiba that wasn’t-”

“You don’t need to explain, Yuugi.” Kaiba rasped, trying to catch his breath as well. “Yami told me he was switching with you.”

“Well I’m glad he talked to you about it.” Yuugi glared up at Yami whose grin couldn’t get any wider. “Did he tell you he loved you?”

Yami’s grin vanished in an instant but Kaiba just scoffed. “I gathered as much.” He murmured against Yuugi’s neck before sitting up on his elbows.

Yuugi watched Yami move so Kaiba could have all of Yuugi’s attention. His hair was matted to the sides of his face and his skin flushed which Yuugi could see even in the dimly lit room. His eyes were dark, almost black and Yuugi saw enough encouragement in them to smile. “Thank you.” He murmured, closing his eyes.

“For what?”

“For making us happy.” Yuugi breathed.

Kaiba didn’t say anything. He didn’t move away from him, he didn’t lean closer. He didn’t wipe the tear off of Yuugi’s cheek as it dripped into his tri-colored hair. Yuugi was so very happy. The kind of happy you feel at the top of the roller coaster, waiting for the drop. Just as thrilling, just as frightening. That same stupid train teetering on the edge of the cliff. When Yuugi finally opened his eyes, collecting himself enough to face Kaiba’s rejection, he was surprised to see an array of emotions in Kaiba’s eyes he’d never seen before. The most prominent was honored. The most familiar was sorrow.

Kaiba sighed, staring at Yuugi, his expression hardening and returning to his normal scowl. Yuugi didn’t mind. It was comforting to know Kaiba could keep it together. Kaiba moved off and lay beside him, pulling Yuugi with him. Kaiba held him against his chest, with his chin resting on the top of his head. Yuugi was comfortable there, but when he felt Yami laying behind him, he felt complete. Yami might not be able to touch him and Yuugi couldn’t physically feel the spirit lying on the bed near his back, but he could feel Yami’s soul on one side of him and Kaiba’s warmth on the other. He was complete. This was perfect and he might not ever have this again.

Yuugi sniffled. He knew he was going to worry Yami and annoy Kaiba but he couldn’t stop himself. He just kept waiting for the sunlight to shine in through the porthole and bring their happiness to a screeching halt. The invisible force that would push them over the edge into the ground below. Tomorrow he’d be a little closer to Kaiba than he ever was before. He’d understand what it’s like to be reborn in fire. Kaiba’s hand soothed up and down his spine while Yami’s hands wrapped themselves around his heart to keep it together. When Yuugi began to doze off, he heard Kaiba whisper in his ear. “No matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll be here when you need to find yourself again. I want you at your best.”

Together, Yami and Yuugi murmured barely conscious. “...and we still want you at your worst.”


End file.
